20100714

Dirty Dutch

While Holland were at the receiving end of some rough and unfair treatment by their opponents last time they reached the World Cup Final, this time they were guilty of dirty play. The tactic of trying to unsettle Spain with over-physical play earned them nine cards (eight yellow and one red) but few friends.

One person who was disgusted by this style of play was Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. He slammed the national team for their approach and branded it as "ugly, vulgar, hard, hardly eye-catching, hardly football style".

"They were playing anti-football," said Cruyff.

In a sense, the loss of sympathy and support from the football world hurts more than the loss of the Final match.